


Have a Merry Peri Solstice

by DemyxDancer



Series: Professionals [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Little Homeworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:28:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21842182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemyxDancer/pseuds/DemyxDancer
Summary: After being inspired by her favorite television show, Peridot is determined to create the perfect Winter Solstice festival in Little Homeworld. Can she juggle her responsibilities and pull it off? Or will it all go up in flames -- literally, considering the giant tree and the only-somewhat-tested Solstice lights?A Steven Universe Christmas Special! References my other ficProfessionals, but it is not necessary to read that one first.
Relationships: Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Series: Professionals [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573660
Comments: 46
Kudos: 127





	1. Peridot's Great Idea (with Minimal Fire)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written in the early drafts of _Professionals_ and not everything is compatible with the current canon. Happy Solstice anyway!

_ “Oh, Percy, I made a complete fool of myself at the Solstice pageant.” _

_ “Like, it’s totally okay, Paulette. Everyone likes you even if your reindeer nose fell off during the middle of the big number.” _

“You see, Lapis, this is a prime example of Paulette’s shortcomings. She can’t even correctly portray a reindeer.”

Lapis was leaning against Peridot, head half in her lap. “Peri, do you even know what a reindeer is?”

“It’s, uh. It’s. They have brown horns and… noses,” said Peridot. “Look, that’s not the point.”

“What  _ is _ your point?”

“My point is that Paulette is objectively the worst.”

It was an extremely cold, clear winter’s day, and Peridot could think of no better way she would like to spend it than curling up with Lapis in her underground lair at Little Homeworld, watching  _ Camp Pining Hearts _ winter specials. 

“Which one do you want to watch next, Lapis?”

“Hmm, how about the one with the Solstice Festival?”

“A total classic!” said Peridot, swapping out DVDs. “Excellent taste as usual.”

“I just like the way the Solstice Festival looks. All those little booths in the snow. It’s quaint.” 

Peridot went to push play, but froze as the gears in her head suddenly began to turn. “Lapis. Lapis! I just got an idea. I have the  _ best _ idea.”

“Is this the kind of idea where I need to be prepared to put out a fire? Or pre-emptively call Steven because someone’s gem is going to end up cracked?”

“Of course not!” said Peridot. “This idea involves no gem cracking and no fire. Well, maybe a little fire. Carefully controlled fires!”

“You’re not selling me on this,” said Lapis, raising an eyebrow.

“Listen, Lapis,” said Peridot, “What if  _ we _ had a Solstice Festival? Just like on Camp Pining Hearts!”

“You mean here in Little Homeworld? That’s… actually a really good idea!”

“What do you mean ‘actually’?! Of course it is! We could have decorations, and entertainment, and booths set up by all the businesses in Little Homeworld and Beach City!”

Lapis smiled, warming up to the idea. “That does sound like it could be fun. But isn’t Solstice only a week away? Would we have enough time?”

“This calls for an emergency meeting!” she yelled, diving over Lapis to get at her phone, resulting in both of them getting entangled.

**SpackChat**

**Room:** little-homeworld-crew

**Topic:** movie theater for little homeworld?

**PERI5XG** has changed the topic to “EMERGENCY MEETING”

**PERI5XG:** YOU GUYS

**PERI5XG:** EMERGENCY MEETING, MY PLACE, RIGHT NOW

**CourtLawyerZircon:** What’s the emergency?

**PERI5XG:** I JUST HAD THE BEST IDEA

**BismuthTime:** yeah, that does sound like an emergency

**CourtLawyerZircon:** How many Gems are on fire this time?

**PERI5XG:** YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO LET ME LIVE DOWN THE FIRE THING ARE YOU

**~water~witch~:** nope

**PERI5XG:** LAPIS NOT YOU TOO

**PERI5XG:** ANYWAY THIS IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA WITH MINIMAL FIRE INVOLVED. EVEN LAPIS THINKS SO.

**~water~witch~:** it actually is pretty good

**PERI5XG:** THAT’S WHY I’M CALLING AN IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY MEETING TO DISCUSS IT.

**BismuthTime:** i’m teaching a class in five minutes, can it wait until after

**PERI5XG:** CLASS IS CANCELED

**CourtLawyerZircon:** I have to warp to Homeworld for a trial in less than an hour.

**PERI5XG:** TRIALS ARE CANCELED

**CourtLawyerZircon:** Sure, I’ll just let the Diamonds know.

**PERI5XG:** DIAMONDS ARE CANCELED

**CourtLawyerZircon:** That was sarcasm. Could you tell that was sarcasm?

**PERI5XG:** WAIT ACTUALLY SPEAKING OF DIAMONDS I SHOULD TELL STEVEN MY IDEA

**PERI5XG:** HOLD ON, DON’T GO HOLDING AN EMERGENCY MEETING WITHOUT ME

“I don’t think they’re going to hold an emergency meeting without you, since they’re both busy and you never told them your idea,” said Lapis.

“Can’t risk it,” said Peridot, switching apps to text Steven.

**PERI5XG:** STEVEN!

**andSteven!:** Hi Peridot! 

**andSteven!:** What’s up?

**PERI5XG:** I JUST GOT THIS GREAT IDEA

**andSteven!:** That’s great!

**andSteven!:** Lapis is around to put out any fires, right?

**PERI5XG:** THERE ARE NOT GOING TO BE ANY FIRES!

**PERI5XG:** WE’RE HOLDING AN EMERGENCY MEETING AT MY PLACE AS SOON AS BIS AND ZIRCS FINISH THEIR THINGS THAT ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT

**PERI5XG:** YOU SHOULD COME!

**andSteven!:** I’d love to, but there’s a blizzard warning. I should really stay here at the house.

**PERI5XG:** A BLIZZARD WARNING? REALLY?

Peridot switched to her self-made weather app. She had created it not long after receiving a phone, so she could track the often inconvenient weather patterns of the Earth. Sure enough, there was a significant storm bearing down on Beach City in the next few hours.

**PERI5XG:** THIS IS PERFECT

**andSteven!:** The blizzard is perfect?

**PERI5XG:** COME TO LITTLE HOMEWORLD FOR THE BLIZZARD

**PERI5XG:** I’LL MOVE THE MEETING TO BISMUTH’S FORGE, FOR WARMTH

**PERI5XG:** YOU CAN BRING SNACKS AND ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO SURVIVE THE EXTREME COLD

**PERI5XG:** A HAT? YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BRING A HAT.

**andSteven!:** Well, maybe…

**andSteven!:** Have you checked with Bismuth to make sure that’s okay?

Peridot flipped chats over again.

**CourtLawyerZircon:** How would we have an emergency meeting without you if you never told us your idea?

**PERI5XG:** BIS I’M MOVING THE EMERGENCY MEETING TO YOUR FORGE, IS THAT OKAY?

**BismuthTime:** that’s fine, but why?

**PERI5XG:** TO SHIELD STEVEN’S FRAGILE ORGANIC BODY FROM THE BLIZZARD OBVIOUSLY

**BismuthTime:** you got steven to come?

**BismuthTime:** that’s great, i feel like we haven’t seen him in ages!

**PERI5XG:** IT’S SETTLED THEN, EMERGENCY MEETING SLASH BLIZZARD HIDEOUT AT BISMUTH’S FORGE AS SOON AS EVERYONE STOPS BEING BUSY

**PERI5XG:** BE THERE OR ELSE

**~water~witch~:** or else what

**PERI5XG:** OR LAPIS WILL PUNT YOU INTO THE OCEAN

**~water~witch~:** yes very threatening :)

* * *

  
Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth and Steven sat on the floor of Bismuth’s forge, surrounding a large piece of paper with a crude map of Little Homeworld drawn on it in marker. The wind was howling outside, but with the fire going strong, the inside of the forge was as toasty warm as usual. Steven was wrapped in a blanket and snacking on a bag of Chaaaaps.

“We’re going to need to get the biggest tree and put it right in the center of town. Think we could get some of the Quartzes to carry it?” said Peridot.

“Why a tree?” said Lapis.

“Why  _ not  _ a tree? Obviously it’s because the earliest, primitive humans didn’t have any other convenient large objects for hanging their electric lights. Right, Steven?”

“Um…”

Just then the door opened, bringing with it a blast of cold. Zircon, absolutely covered in snow, entered the forge, quickly shutting the door behind her. “In case you didn’t know, it’s  _ extremely _ unpleasant outside.”

“But you’re still smiling,” said Bismuth, “so I’m assuming you won your case.”

“Absolutely!” said Zircon, grinning broadly, trying in vain to get her dripping wet hair out of her face. “Cleared of all charges. Anyway, what’d I miss?”

“We put you in charge of organizing booth setup since no one else wanted to and you weren’t here,” said Lapis.

“Uh. Thanks?” Zircon wiped the snow off and settled in between Lapis and Bismuth.

Peridot was studying the diagram. “Anyway, so if we have the tree here, where are we going to set up the stage?”

“I think we have enough room over here, near the classrooms,” said Bismuth. 

“I think Sadie’s in town,” said Steven, stifling a huge yawn. “I bet we could get her band to play.”

“That sounds great!” said Peridot.

“You okay, Steven?” said Lapis.

“I’m fine, it’s just warm in here. Do you think there’s room for Peedee to bring in his food truck next to the booths?”

“I think so. We might need to move things over slightly.” Peridot penciled a food truck into the map. “Oh! And I just remembered something else. We need to do a Secret Solstice!”

“What’s a Secret Solstice?” said Zircon.

“I saw it on  _ Camp Pining Hearts! _ Everyone writes down their name and puts it in a hat, or some other sufficiently random receptacle. Then, everyone pulls out a name that isn’t theirs, and you have to get that person a present.”

“Hm, that sounds awkward. What if you get someone you don’t know?” said Lapis.

“Maybe we could do this Secret Solstice with just us?” said Bismuth. “If it works out, maybe we could involve more people next year.”

“That’s a good plan,” said Peridot. “Bis, do you have any more--”

A sleeping Steven slumped sideways right onto Peridot’s shoulder as she was talking.

“Hey, Steven, wake up!”

“Huh?” Steven sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, sorry, Peridot. Guess I’m just tired.”

“I guess so!” said Bismuth. “Humans need sleep, right? Have you been getting enough of it?”

“Ehh, probably not,” Steven admitted. “Things have been  _ really _ busy between new Gem orientation, tracking down the last of the corrupted Gems, visiting the Diamonds in Homeworld, training with my shield so I don’t get rusty…” He yawned again. “I haven’t even really had time to see Connie.”

Bismuth stood up. “Well, it’s a blizzard now, you’re stuck here, and you don’t have any of those things to do, so you’re getting some rest.” Before Steven could protest, she scooped him right up into her arms and inserted him into his sleeping bag, depositing it at the back of the room, away from the talking.

“Bismuth,” Steven laughed, “I’m not a little kid. I don’t need to be put to bed.” He tried and failed to keep from yawning.

“Tell you what, if you can stay awake for the next five minutes, you don’t have to go to bed.”

“That’s not fair,” said Steven, already half asleep. “It’s too warm and cozy. Noooooo…”

Bismuth laughed. “Good night, Steven.”

“Poor Steven,” said Lapis, as Bismuth returned to the group. “We should do something nice for him. We should get him a Solstice present!”

“That’s a great idea!” said Peridot. “What does he need?”

“A break?” said Zircon. They all looked at her. “I was joking, but actually… could we?”

“Maybe we could…” said Peridot. “If we could figure out a way to clear out his schedule… but I thought he was going to do Secret Solstice gifts with us?”

“That’s just another responsibility that he doesn’t need,” Bismuth pointed out. “Us four can do Secret Solstice, and we’ll figure out a way to get Steven a vacation together.”

Peridot grinned. “Yeah! Let’s get that set up. Do you have any paper?”

Bismuth produced some paper from a cupboard, and Peridot tore it into four strips, writing a name on each one. She folded them up and dumped them into a bucket that Bismuth held out. 

Bismuth closed her eyes and fished out a piece of paper, unfolded it, and looked at it. And kept looking at it.

“Uh, Bis? You’re supposed to pass the bucket around.”

“I can’t tell what this says. Peridot, your handwriting is terrible.”

“What? It is not!” Peridot snatched the paper out of Bismuth’s hand. “You’re supposed to put it back if you get yourself!”

“That said ‘Bismuth’? You could have fooled me.”

Zircon looked over at the paper. “Were you writing in human or Gemglyph?”

Peridot groaned. “Fine. If my handwriting is so bad,  _ you _ do it.” 

She pushed the paper and markers over to Bismuth, who neatly wrote everyone’s name down and replaced the papers in the bucket, closing her eyes and fishing out a new one. “Hm,” she said, smiling. “This’ll be fun.”

She passed the bucket to Zircon, who closed her eyes and pulled out a name. Her face lit up. “Interesting! I think I can do this.”

Lapis was next. “Huh…” she said, uncertain. “I might have a good idea…”

Finally, Peridot pulled the last paper out of the bucket. 

Lapis.

Peridot tried to contain her glee. This was  _ perfect _ . All she had to do was find the ideal Solstice present for Lapis. Something that would really make her happy.

Her initial delight quickly turned into distress. She had to find  _ the ideal Solstice present for Lapis. _

“Uh, Peri, are you okay?” Lapis was looking at her with concern.

All she had to do was organize a Solstice Festival, arrange an emergency vacation for Steven, and figure out the perfect present for the Gem she loved.

“I’m fine! This is going to be the best Solstice ever!” she said weakly, curling into a tiny ball.


	2. Peridot's Solstice Festival

Peridot awoke to the soft buzzing of her phone. Eyes barely cracked open, she levitated her phone towards her, hit the snooze button on the alarm, put it down again, and snuggled up against Lapis. She could feel Lapis stir a bit, then tighten her grip around Peridot’s waist. Peridot smiled and closed her eyes, feeling safe and content in Lapis’s arms. It was so nice to relax on a winter’s day like this, nothing pressing to do…

Peridot’s eyes flew open again. Oh stars, the  _ Solstice Festival. _

“Lapis,” she said, maneuvering around to face her girlfriend. Lapis’s arm was clutching her so tightly that she couldn’t easily get out from under it. “Lapis, wake up.” She gently shook Lapis’s shoulder until the blue Gem began to slowly blink.

“Peri? What’s going on?” she said, barely cognizant.

“Lapis, it’s the Solstice Festival. We have to get moving.”

“Solstice…?” Lapis’s eyes opened wider as she remembered. “Oh, right, the Solstice Festival!”

Both considerably more awake, Peridot started to bundle up the giant pile of Solstice lights she had created, mentally catching onto their metal parts and carefully levitating the entire bundle upwards so she could carry it. 

“What do I need?” asked Lapis, looking around the lair.

“I thought since you can fly, you could help attach the garland to all the buildings. It’s in the corner by the potting soil.” 

Lapis spotted the silver tinsel garland and began to gather it up. Peridot came up behind her and quickly wound a loop of garland all around Lapis. “Hey, what are you doing?” Lapis laughed.

“You look so festive!” Peridot stepped back and snapped a picture with her phone as Lapis mock-glared at her. “You should keep this look for the festival.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” said Lapis, unwinding the garland from herself and picking up as much of the pile as she could carry. “Let’s go.”

They rode the elevator up to the greenhouse level, laden down with decorations. As they exited the elevator, they both spotted something hanging from the ceiling right in front of the elevator doors.

“What’s that?” said Lapis.

“Oh, I know what that is! It’s mistletoe. It’s a Solstice custom. If you’re caught under the mistletoe, you have to kiss the closest person.” She blushed and looked at Lapis. “I bet Bismuth put it there, you know how she likes to tease--” 

Before she could finish her sentence, Lapis had dropped the entire pile of garland and pulled Peridot into a kiss. Peridot could hear the Solstice lights fall to the floor as she immediately lost her ability to focus on anything else.

“Hm, I think I like this custom,” said Lapis as she pulled away. “We might need to try it a few more times to make sure, though.”

“I love Solstice,” said a dazzled Peridot, a goofy grin on her face.

“Don’t forget to pick the lights back up!”

“Lights? There were lights?”

* * *

A few minutes of recovery later, Peridot and Lapis emerged into a beautiful crisp winter day. Peridot smiled as she looked at the cold, clear winter sun. She couldn’t have asked for better weather for the Festival.

The center of Little Homeworld was already an absolute whirlwind of activity, as Gems began to emerge from their homes and workshops and prepare the festivities. “I’d better go help organize this mess,” said Peridot. “I’ll just leave these lights here until the tree is set up. Are you all set with the garland?”

“You got it, Solstice Captain,” said Lapis, saluting.

“Solstice Captain, I like that!”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” Lapis ruffled Peridot’s hair before spreading her wings and taking off for the tallest building, garland trailing behind her.

Hopping on her trash can lid, Peridot’s first stop was near the entrance to Little Homeworld, where Snowflake Obsidian and Little Larimar were making ice sculptures.

“Hey hey, Peridot!” called out Snowflake. “What do you think of our ice sculptures?” The two Gems had created an assortment of sculptures flanking the paths into Little Homeworld. They were mostly abstract crystalline structures, but a few were in the shapes of Earth objects, like trees and deer. “We did sculptures like we used to do for the Diamonds, but we also made a few like we saw in this one Solstice book.”

“They look  _ great!” _ Peridot gave the pair an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“I even created a traditional human snowman!” said Larimar.

_ “That’s _ a snowman?” Instead of round balls of snow decorated with coal buttons, Larimar had sculpted a ridiculously muscular, chiseled human man out of ice. It still had a carrot nose.

“Of course it is a snowman!” said Larimar, sounding a little hurt. “It is a human man, that I constructed out of snow.”

Peridot hesitated, then decided to let this one go. “It sure is! Good job, Larimar!” Larimar beamed.

Peridot turned around, and could see Bismuth hauling a cart of something out of her forge. “Bis!” she called out, flying in and hovering just above her friend. “Need a hand?” The cart was filled with all sorts of metal decorations -- intricately crafted stars, lights on posts, what appeared to be metal wreaths, and things Peridot couldn’t even identify.

“Hmm, maybe,” said Bismuth, pulling the lamp posts out of the cart. “I was thinking we could distribute these evenly around the center of town. It’d probably be real quick with your abilities.”

“I got it!” said Peridot eagerly, lifting the posts with her mind. She quickly made her way around, jamming each post firmly into the ground at about equal distances from each other. On the way, she passed Lapis, who was attaching the garland to one of the buildings, and gave her a quick high five.

“There!” said Peridot, satisfied, as she dispatched the last post.

“Peridot! There you are!” Peridot was nearly startled off her trash can lid by Jamie, who was right behind her, brandishing a sheaf of paper.

“Jamie. Did you need something? How’s the pageant coming together?”

“As you know, I’ve crafted a two-hour, one-man tour de force of a performance that I think really encapsulates the Solstice spirit. It’s as though  _ A Solstice Carol _ were combined with  _ Die Hard, _ with my own personal brand of avant-garde garnish to top. However, I was thinking about the staging, and…”

Peridot could feel her brain slowly turning to mush as she tuned Jamie out, nodding and saying “yeah” as she thought about anything else. Did anyone else need help? Bismuth was setting up her metal stars, and wow, they looked  _ great.  _ She caught a brief glimpse of Zircon running past as though her hair were on fire. Lapis had tangled herself up in the garland and was fighting with it in midair. She smiled as she remembered the mistletoe from earlier. 

“...you’re blushing, Peridot. Is it from the raw emotion of the Act 3 revelations where the protagonist reveals that his complex feelings about Solstice stem from not receiving a Sega Genesis when he was nine?”

“Yeah, sure,” said Peridot. The warp pad activated, and that was a good excuse to flee as any. “Oh hey someone new just showed up I better go see if they need help good luck with your thing Jamie!”

“Wait, I haven’t explained the finale!”

Peridot had already flown off to the warp pad, where Pearl and Garnet were arriving. “Hi!” said Peridot. “Glad you could make it!”

“Couldn’t miss Little Homeworld’s first Solstice Festival,” said Garnet, smiling.

“This will be great for outreach!” said Pearl. “Looks like everything is well underway. Where can we help?”

“I’m not sure,” said Peridot, surveying the controlled chaos around her. “I mean, if you want to talk to Jamie about his whatever…”

“Absolutely not,” said Garnet.

“I haven’t checked in with Zircs, yet, she might need a hand setting up the booths. Where’s Amethyst?”

“Amethyst went with a group of Quartzes to pick up the tree,” said Pearl. “You did want an enormous tree, right? The kind with needles? I’m not sure I really understand what difference the kind of tree makes if we’re just going to cut it down and stick it in the middle of town.”

“It’s traditional, Pearl!” said Peridot. “This is a traditional, human-style Solstice Festival, so it needs a traditional, human-style Solstice tree!”

“If you say so,” said Pearl. “I’ll go see what’s happening with the booths, then.”

“And I’ll help Bismuth with the decorations,” said Garnet.

“Hey, Garnet?” said Peridot, flying in close. “You’ve got future vision, right? Does the Festival turn out okay?”

Garnet set a hand on her shoulder. “This is an effort that involves a large number of free Gems and humans, so it’s almost impossible to predict what could happen. However, nearly every probable path I see involves success, and very few result in Little Homeworld burning to the ground.”

“That’s… good?” said Peridot.

“Sorry, I need to be over there,” said Garnet, suddenly zipping around Peridot and catching one of Bismuth’s stars at the exact second it slipped out of her grip.

“So cool,” said Peridot, under her breath.

Her attention was immediately drawn to Amethyst and a rowdy group of Quartzes pulling an oversized tree into town, just barely missing smashing the delicate ice sculptures. “Hey, P-dot!” called Amethyst. “Happy Solstice!”

“Ames! Happy Solstice to you too!” Peridot flew in and fist-bumped the purple Gem. “That is a  _ much _ larger than average Solstice tree!”

“We got you the biggest tree we could find!” said Amethyst, proudly. “This is for Little Homeworld outreach, we’re gonna do this right!”

“This is  _ so much fun,”  _ said Ocean Jasper. 

“Having a Solstice Festival was such a good idea!” said Biggs. “C’mon, let’s get this thing set up!” The Quartzes hoisted the tree onto their shoulders and headed to the center of town, Larimar following behind, repairing all the sculptures they were breaking on the way.

As soon as the tree was out of the way, a car drove into Little Homeworld and parked on the side of the road. Sadie spotted Peridot. “Hey, Peridot!”

“Sadie! Thanks for coming!” Peridot clapped in glee. At least the Festival would have some human-friendly entertainment that wasn’t whatever Jamie was doing.

“No problem, we’re always happy to play Little Homeworld. Where do you want us to set up?”

“Oh, uh, I’ll show you. And if you have anything metal I can carry…”

Peridot spent the next ten minutes or so occupied with floating amps, lights and pyrotechnic equipment across the square to the stage that they had set up a few days before. By the time she had finished, the Quartzes had set the tree up in the middle of the square.

“That looks perfect,” she said, flying up next to Amethyst.

“Thanks! It needs lights on it next, right? Peridot, you’re good at electrical stuff, are you doing that part?”

“Lights? Can I help?” Dottie -- a Peridot who had fairly recently come from Homeworld to help with maintenance -- was standing nearby, admiring the tree.

“Uhhhh…” said Amethyst. She pulled Peridot aside. “I know Dottie means well, but she’s kind of…”

“...yeah,” said Peridot. 

“Where’s that other Peridot? The cranky one?”

“2PK? I think she’s allergic to fun. She’s probably off sulking.”

“Well, that’s fine,” said Amethyst. “We’ll just let Dottie hold the lights while you do all the work.”

“I don’t have time to put all the lights on the tree,” said Peridot. “I’m supposed to be in charge! I’m directing people!”

“Really? I thought Zircs was in charge.”

“What? No!” said Peridot, scowling. “Zircs doesn’t know anything about human festivals, why would she be in charge?”

“I dunno, ‘cause she had a clipboard, and was checking stuff off on it?”

“A clipboard? What does that have to do with anything?”

Amethyst shrugged. “Well if she’s not in charge, can she  _ be _ in charge, so you can put the lights on? If we let Dottie do it alone, she’ll probably end up burning the whole town to the ground.”

Peridot was about to protest, but then remembered Garnet’s predictions. “Fine. Fine! I’ll be right back.”

Peridot hopped on her trash can lid and flew over to the marketplace area of the festival, where both Gems and humans were setting up booths. Zircon was there, holding a clipboard and chatting to Lars. “...the details on these little spaceships are really impressive. How do you make something like that?”

“Well,” said Lars, brimming with pride, “I’ve been practicing sculpting in marzipan. It’s a Solstice treat in some parts of the world, and I thought it would brighten up the cakes we’re selling. This Festival could be really good for bringing in new customers to Spacetries.”

“Hey, Zircs,” said Peridot, touching down.

“Oh, Peridot, there you are!” 

From the tone of her voice, Peridot expected some catastrophe, but instead she held up a tray of cookies.

“Look at these cookies Lars made. They’re in the shape of Gems, isn’t that just precious?”

Peridot raised one eyebrow. “So the humans are going to be consuming our gemstones?”

“Oh, uh…” Zircon put the tray down, suddenly disturbed.

“Relax, Peridot,” said Lars. “I’ve got gingerbread people, too. It’s equal opportunity cannibalism.”

“That’s… distressing,” said Peridot. “Anyway, Zircs. I needed to talk to you.”

“Sure, what about?”

“Your clipboard.”

Zircon was thoroughly confused. “What?”

“Why are you carrying around a clipboard instead of using your screens like you always do?”

“Well, this is a traditional human event, so I thought I would use a traditional human symbol of organization and authority. Also, it’s rather satisfying to check boxes off a list printed on--”

“I need it. Give it to me.”

“What? No!” Zircon clutched the clipboard close to herself.

“You just  _ said _ it’s a human symbol of organization and authority. I’m in charge of organizing and… authorizing… look, I’m the Solstice Captain, so I should have it.”

“What is a Solstice Captain -- hey!”

Using her powers on the metal clasp, Peridot pulled the clipboard from Zircon’s arms.

“Peridot, that has all my notes on it!”

“Oh, right, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. You’re in charge of organizing while I put the lights on the tree.”

“What?! You’re putting me in charge?”

“I have full confidence in you. You’ll do great!” 

“Can I have my clipboard back, then?”

“No!” Peridot flew off, ignoring the flustered Zircon noises behind her.

She flew back to the tree, where all the Quartzes were gathered in a tight circle. “What happened?” said Peridot, trying to peek through.

“Dottie accidentally electrocuted herself,” said Amethyst.

"Oh my stars,” said Peridot. “Does someone have her gem?”

“Right here,” said Biggs, picking it up out of the snow and brushing it off. “Her limb enhancers are filled with snow now, though. I’ll gather them up and clean them off, you guys start working on the lights and decorations.”

Peridot fetched the Solstice lights she had dropped near the greenhouse earlier and went to work carefully stringing them around the tree. Between her metal abilities and her flying, the work went much more quickly than she had expected.

“You done, Per?” called Amethyst. “Can I turn it on?”

“Wait, not yet!” called Peridot. “We have to gather everyone for the tree lighting!” 

Peridot soared high above Little Homeworld. From her vantage point, she could see decorations and happy Gems everywhere. The Solstice Festival was really coming together. Her entire being filled with the joy and peace that came with the holiday season as she delivered her message to the crowd: “HEY, YOU CLODS! WE’RE GONNA LIGHT THE TREE SO YOU BETTER COME SEE!”

Gems and humans put down their tasks and gathered around the tree. “All right, is everyone ready?” called Peridot. “Amethyst, do you think I need some dramatic music or something?”

“Just hit the switch!” said Amethyst.

“Fine.” Peridot flipped the master switch for the tree and… nothing. “What? How can this be?! The lights worked perfectly when I tested them last!”

“Oh, uh, did we remember to replace the wires Dottie shorted out with, y’know, her body?”

Peridot groaned. “I’ll be right back. Nobody move!” She flew to the greenhouse and descended to her lair, grabbing all the useful wires and tools in sight. She took it all back to the tree where she went to work replacing wires as fast as she could.

“Hey, uh…” said someone in the crowd. “I was kind of setting up my booth, can I get back to that?”

“No!” said Peridot. “I’m almost done here.” She got up, brushing the snow off her pants. “Are you all prepared? This is going to knock your socks off, if you’re unfortunate enough to be wearing socks!”

“Yes, we’re prepared,” said Pearl. “We’ve been standing around for the last ten minutes.”

“Behold, my Solstice masterpiece!” Peridot flipped the switch, and this time the lights came on, nearly bright enough as to be blinding, and flashing so rapidly they were difficult to look at. The humans in the crowd all shielded their eyes.

“That’s a little much, don’t you think?” said Garnet.

“Well, maybe,” said Peridot, squinting at the display. “Good thing I built in more than one setting.” She turned a knob, and the Solstice lights dimmed and settled into a much slower pattern. 

Bismuth started to loudly clap, inducing the rest of the crowd to clap as well until they were all clapping and cheering for the tree. Peridot beamed with pride. “We should sing Solstice carols!” said Sadie.

“Ooh, I’ll start,” said Amethyst. “Deck the halls at Little Homeworld!”

“Oh, I know this one,” said Peridot. “Fa la la la la, la la la la?”

“Peridot’s a big ol’ neeee-erd.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“Fa la la la la, la la la la!” Lapis had flown in beside her, laughing. “The tree looks beautiful, Peri.”

“The garlands look beautiful too!” said Peridot. “And it’s really nice having everyone together.”

“It is,” said Lapis, wrapping her arms around Peridot’s shoulders, as they stood there in the snow, gazing up at the tree. “You did an amazing job organizing this.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“...why do you have Zircs’ clipboard?”

“For organizational authority, Lapis.”

At that moment, the nearby warp pad lit up, and a group of visiting Homeworld Gems appeared.

As far as Peridot was concerned, there were two types of Homeworld Gems. There were the type that came to Earth to gawk and laugh and feel smugly superior. Those were the kind she steered clear of, lest she lose her temper and “accidentally” bean them with her trash can lid. (The fact that, deep down, she knew that she had once been exactly like that, made it  _ so much worse.) _

And then there were the type who were more open-minded and genuinely interested in what the Earth was all about. Judging by the smiles on these Gems’ faces and the fact that the group was mostly lower-class Gems, this new group likely fell into this category.

“Wow, everything’s covered in ice!”

“I’ve never seen anything like this…”

“This is a party, right? I’ve never been to a party.”

“I stood outside a party once.”

A beaming Amethyst immediately broke from the crowd around the tree and went over to give the visiting Gems her welcome-to-Little-Homeworld spiel. She had it down to a science, and within minutes the group was smiling and paying close attention.

...except for one Gem in the back.

She was a Peridot with hair in the shape of a star, and she was staring directly at Peridot and Lapis with an unreadable expression. Lapis was watching Sadie’s band tune their instruments and wasn’t paying attention.

“Hey, Lapis, I’ll be right back.” Peridot ducked out of Lapis’s embrace and walked up to the Peridot at the back of the tourist group.

She seemed incredibly startled that anyone was talking to her. “Oh, uh, hello! You’re from here? I mean, you live here?”

“That’s right! Welcome to Earth.”

“Oh!” She blushed. “Th-thank you.” 

“We don’t see a lot of Peridots visiting. There’s actually only a couple of us here on Earth. What brings you here?”

“Well…” the tourist Peridot seemed unsure of herself. “They told us that since it was Era 3, we could go anywhere and do anything we want. But I liked working on spaceships so I just… kept doing that? I didn’t really have anywhere I wanted to go. But then a bunch of Gems from the colony decided to visit Earth for this festival? And I thought, wow, I haven’t been anywhere even though I’m allowed to? So I thought I would come?”

“That’s a great reason!” said Peridot. “Trying new things! You should be proud of yourself.”

“Really?” She looked stunned. Peridot felt a little twinge of sadness - she knew that the reason she was so surprised was because she had probably never been told that before.

The tourist Peridot looked around nervously. “It’s pretty here. Do you like living here?”

“Stars, yes!” said Peridot. “It’s amazing! You can do whatever you want, all day long. I have friends, my own living quarters, I grow organics and watch TV. It takes a while to adjust, but believe me, the Earth is the best possible place for a Peridot.”

Her eyes had grown large. “Wow, really? I had  _ no idea _ the Earth was like that!” She leaned in closer. “Uh… are you really friends with a  _ Lapis Lazuli?” _

“More than friends,” Peridot whispered back, grinning.

The visitor’s face turned bright blue. “That’s so romantic! A Peridot and a Lapis Lazuli!”

“I know!” said Peridot, boastfully.

“Peridot!” Zircon walked up to her. “Steven and Connie are here, do you think we should get everyone together and give them their present?” She noticed the star-haired Peridot. “Oh, hi! Welcome to Earth!”

“Oh, thank you!” The visitor turned to Peridot. “You’re friends with a Zircon, too?”

“Just normal friends,” Peridot clarified. “But she  _ is _ single, so if  _ you _ wanted to…”

“Wait, what?!” said Zircon.

“Ha! You should see the look on your face,” said Peridot. She turned back to the tourist. “You should probably follow the rest of your group. Amethyst is really good at giving the official tour. And if you like the Earth, you should definitely stay! It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Okay!” The star-haired Peridot walked off in the direction of the other Homeworld Gems. “Thanks for talking to me!”

“If you’re done trying to pair me off with random Homeworld Gems,” said Zircon, when the visitor was out of earshot, “can we go give Steven his present?”

“Of course!” said Peridot.

Steven and Connie were near the tree, talking to Bismuth and Lapis. “Peridot!” Steven called out. “Did you really make all the lights for the tree?”

“I did!”

“This is a great festival,” said Connie. “I can’t believe you organized this in just a week!”

“That’s not all we organized,” said Peridot. “We have a Solstice present for both of you!” 

“Aw, you guys, you didn’t have to get us anything,” said Steven.

“Well, we wanted to!” said Lapis. “You’ve done so much for all of us! It’s the least we could do.”

Peridot pulled out her phone and pressed a few buttons. “Drumroll please!”

"What’s a drumroll?” said Lapis.

“Never mind, just open your calendars up.”

Steven and Connie pulled out their phones, perplexed. “Wait,” said Steven. “What happened to my whole schedule?”

“My calendar is empty for all of next week! Where’s my college prep course and my violin lessons?” said Connie, starting to panic. “You guys! You can’t just erase my schedule!”

“We didn’t!” said Peridot. “We took care of all your obligations and freed up your whole week!”

“You did  _ what?”  _ said Steven.

“Peridot and I went around Little Homeworld, figuring out all your obligations and finding other Gems to take care of them,” said Lapis. “Amethyst is taking over new Gem orientation for all of next week.”

“I talked to Garnet and Pearl,” said Bismuth. “We rescheduled all of next week’s missions and training.”

“I talked to Connie’s mom,” said Zircon.

“Really?!” Connie was incredulous.

“I have some experience making a case under pressure!”

“There were spreadsheets involved,” said Peridot.

“So… we really have an entire week of freedom?” Steven looked at Connie.

“A whole week…”

“I’m going to take so many naps!”

“I’m going to read so many books!”

Steven and Connie hugged each other, laughing. There was a flash of light, and a second later, Stevonnie was attempting to pull all four of the Little Homeworld crew into a big group hug.

“Thank you so much! I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more,” said Peridot. “Happy Solstice, Stevonnie!”

“Happy Solstice, Peridot.”


	3. Peridot's Perfect Present

Dusk set in, and a chill wind blew across Little Homeworld’s main square, but it did nothing to dampen the mood of the Solstice Festival, which was now in full swing. A crowd had gathered around the stage, where Sadie Killer and the Suspects were playing a mix of their hits and covers of Solstice tunes. The tourist Gems were over by the booths, holding a lively conversation with a few of the Little Homeworld regulars. Rhodonite ran by, carrying a large tray of cookies from the main Spacetries shop out to Lars’s booth. A group of humans had gathered by the bonfire Bismuth had built a safe distance from the tree, drinking something hot and laughing.

Humans and Gems, Earth and Homeworld, all different types and castes. Peridot sat on a stone bench and admired the work she had done with her friends. Everything had turned out perfect.

She felt a sudden chill as her mind saw fit to take that moment to remind her of the one thing she was still worried about: Lapis’s Secret Solstice present. She really, really hoped she liked it. It was such a perfect night and she would hate herself forever if she ruined it for Lapis by spoiling her present. And if she couldn’t come up with something Lapis liked, what did that mean? Did that mean they were wrong for each other? Her hands gripped the bench in stress.

There was a soft noise as a blue Gem sat down next to her. Peridot had a brief moment of panic before realizing she wasn’t  _ that _ shade of blue.

“I wanted to admit that I was skeptical about this whole thing,” said Zircon, “but this really was one of the best ideas you’ve had. I can’t believe how well this came together.”

“Of course it did! It was my plan, after all.” Peridot pushed her fears out of her head and managed a satisfied smile. “Look at Stevonnie! They’re so happy.” She gestured to where the fusion was cheerfully chatting with Amethyst and Pearl near the stage, with a wide smile and a relaxed expression on their face.

“I’m really glad we could do something for them,” said Zircon. “I feel like I can’t repay Steven enough. If it weren’t for him, I’d be alone in my office on Homeworld right now instead of, well, this!”

“I’d be  _ shattered,” _ said Peridot. She had been on the Earth for such a tiny fraction of her life, yet the days of the cluster mission felt so far away they might as well be thousands of years ago.

“For the record, I’m glad you weren’t shattered. My life would be a lot more boring.”

“That’s even possible?” said Peridot in mock surprise. “For the record, I’m glad you’re not in an awful Homeworld office when you’re obviously supposed to be here organizing a Solstice Festival.”

“Obviously,” agreed Zircon.

“Hey, Happy Solstice, you two!” Bismuth rolled up to the bench in high spirits. She had at some point acquired a rainbow scarf that went down to her knees and matched her hair.

“That is a  _ great scarf,” _ said Peridot, stars in her eyes.

“There’s a human who knits at one of the booths. You should take a look. But first, we need to do our Secret Solstice presents. Remember?”

“Oh, right!” said Zircon. “Mine’s back in my office. I’ll have to go get it.”

“Do you know where Lapis is?” Bismuth asked Peridot.

Peridot realized that she hadn’t seen Lapis in a little while. She could probably guess where she had gone, though. “No, but I’ll see if I can find her. Let’s meet up back here.”

Peridot ducked through the crowd, entering the empty greenhouse and heading down to her underground lair. As soon as she opened the door, she heard a muffled noise and spotted Lapis curled up on the couch.

“Lapis?” Peridot sat down next to her.

“I’m sorry, Peri,” she said. “I didn’t mean to ruin your Solstice.”

“You haven’t ruined my Solstice at all! Didn’t you see how much everyone loved the festival? It’s perfect, and you helped make it!”

“Yeah,” she said. She uncurled herself and lay down half across Peridot’s lap. Peridot immediately started playing with her hair. “It  _ is _ perfect. That’s why I should be happy. Why can’t I just be happy?”

“Because it doesn’t work that way?” Peridot offered. 

“I guess not,” she said. “It’s so nice to have everyone together, and having fun. I just want to enjoy it, and not be…”

Peridot had been through enough with Lapis that she could guess the problem. “You’re worried about losing it all.”

“I know I should just enjoy it now and not worry too much about the future. That’s what Bismuth would tell me. But it’s hard.”

“It  _ is _ hard,” Peridot agreed. “But you know what? I bet we don’t lose everything. I bet next year, we’ll have an even  _ better _ Solstice celebration, with even more friends!”

“How can you know that, though?” said Lapis.

“I don’t. But I do know that there was a time I thought the Crystal Gems would kill me, and a time I thought the Cluster would kill me, and a time I thought the Diamonds would kill me, and a time I thought Spinel would kill me, and somehow, I’m still here. I must be doing  _ something _ right. So I’ll probably be here for next Solstice, too. Statistically speaking.”

“When you put it that way, I guess you’re right,” said Lapis, with the smallest of smiles. “I think you  _ are _ doing something right.”

“Well, you survived all that stuff and you’re here too, so you must be doing something right, too.”

“Maybe I am,” said Lapis. “I wish I could feel like I was.”

“I’ll just have to keep reminding you until it sinks in,” said Peridot.

“That’s my determined Peridot,” said Lapis, finally smiling.

“That’s my happy Lappy!”

“Oh my stars,” said Lapis, blushing. “You’re the biggest dork on the planet.”

“I thought that was why you loved me!”

“Yeah, you got me there.” 

“If you’re feeling better,” said Peridot, “Bis and Zircs wanted to do Secret Solstice.”

“Okay!” said Lapis. “Let me go get my present.” She picked up a large object in a cloth bag. Peridot had noticed it a couple of days ago but had been patient enough to not peek.

They rode the elevator back up to the greenhouse. “Wait a minute, Peri,” said Lapis, seriously. “I need to put this down for a sec.”

“What? Why?”

“Mistletoe, remember?” She pulled Peridot into a kiss. 

“Let’s just leave this up the rest of the year,” said Peridot.

“Nah, it’d be less special. I’ll just have to find some other excuse.”

* * *

  
Bismuth was telling some story that involved a lot of sweeping hand gestures, just barely missing smacking Zircon right off the bench. “You found Lapis!” she said.

“Yup, I’m ready for Secret Solstice.”

“Well, do you want to go first then?”

“Sure,” said Lapis, presenting the cloth sack to Bismuth. “This is for you! Happy Solstice!”

Bismuth reached into the sack and pulled out a brilliant, iridescent rainbow shell, nearly a foot across. “Oh my stars, where did you find this?”

“At the bottom of the ocean, near an island I fly over sometimes. I thought you’d know what to do with it.”   


“I have  _ so many ideas,”  _ said Bismuth, dazzled. “So many things I could make! I’ll never be able to pick just one. This is your fault, Lapis Lazuli!”

“Sorry,” Lapis laughed. “I didn’t mean to give you a difficult choice for Solstice.”

“I love it!” said Bismuth. “Does that mean it’s my turn?”

“Go ahead!” said Peridot.

Bismuth handed a box to Zircon. “Happy Solstice!”

“Oh, happy Solstice to you too!” Zircon opened the box and pulled out something unusual: a metal frame with five metal balls suspended on strings. “Uh, Bismuth, what  _ is _ this?”

“I saw it on a TV show! A human lawyer had one on his desk. I thought you should have one! It was simple to make.”

“But what does it do?”

Bismuth righted the object in Zircon’s hands, then pulled back one of the balls so it struck the other four. The balls clicked back and forth in a steady rhythm.

“I’m not sure I understand, but I like it?” Zircon watched the balls click back and forth. “It’s kind of weirdly... soothing.”

“Wow, you found something that Zircs finds soothing,” said Lapis. “It’s a Solstice miracle.”

“It’s your turn to give a present now, Zircs!” said Peridot. Zircon was still staring at the metal balls. “Uh, Zircs?”

Her trance broke. “Yes! Sorry.” She handed Peridot a flat box. “Happy Solstice! I hope you like this, Connie had to help me find it on the Internet.”

“Wow, thanks!” Peridot opened the box, which was crammed full of stickers in the shape of alien heads, stationary, and what seemed to be glittery metallic pens. “Oh, this is  _ perfect _ for morps!” At the bottom of the box was a bright green clipboard, the same color as Peridot’s gem. “A clipboard? How in the stars did you know?”

“I ordered mine at the same time I ordered this one,” said Zircon. “I suppose I guessed correctly that you would want one.”

“I should give yours back,” said Peridot. “...as soon as I remember where I put it.” 

“Last present, Peridot!” said Bismuth.

“Yeah…” said Peridot. “It’s for you, Lapis.”

“I guess it would have to be,” she said.

“But it’s not something I can give you! I’ll have to show you. Alone.”

Bismuth and Zircon exchanged A Look. “If that’s how it is, we’ll leave you two be,” said Bismuth, smirking.

Peridot took Lapis’s hand and led her away from the festival and out of town.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see. It’s not far!”

They walked to a forest just outside town. Peridot led Lapis up to a thorny, uninviting tangle of weeds and bushes.

“My present is here?” said Lapis.

“Just watch,” said Peridot. She walked into the tangle, disappearing as though behind an invisible curtain.

“Wait, what? Where’d you go?”

A green hand poked out in midair, connected to nothing. Lapis took it and held it fast. The forest seemed to shimmer as she was pulled through… something… and ended up in a small clearing with a beautiful fountain in the middle, criss-crossed by strings of tiny lights. 

“This wasn’t here a minute ago!” said Lapis. “How’d you do that?”

“It’s a cloaking device!” said Peridot, proudly. “From the outside, it looks like a place you’d never want to go. No one but us will know this is here! I made you a hiding place for Solstice. Surprise!”

“That’s… amazing,” said Lapis. A little drone flew by overhead. “Is that one of your drones?”

“It’s for monitoring. It’ll alert you if anyone comes near here, so you wouldn’t be caught off guard. There’s also noise-canceling speakers, so you can tune out the outside world. And, you know, water. Because water’s your thing.” Peridot spread her arms out. “It’s a one-stop Lapis Lazuli hiding and recharging zone!”

Peridot grinned hopefully at Lapis, every atom of her being vibrating with,  _ Please like this. Please like me. _ She was rewarded by being scooped into a warm hug, Lapis practically tackling her until they were rolling around in the grass by the fountain.

“It’s perfect, Peridot. I love it. And I love you.”

Peridot gazed up at Lapis, stars behind her and stars in her eyes. “I love you too. Happy Solstice!”

“I think this breaks the rules of Secret Solstice, but I have a present for you, too.”

Lapis carefully pulled off her visor and set it on the side of the fountain. Peridot blushed. “Oh stars, you must be serious if you’re taking off my -- mmph!” She was silenced with a kiss.

* * *

By the time they got back to the festival, the cleanup party, enthusiastically directed by Pearl, was in full swing.

“Good job finding the perfect present for Lapis,” Bismuth said to Peridot, as they took down the lamp posts.

“You don’t even know what I gave her,” said Peridot.

“I guess not,” she shrugged. “But based on how long you two were gone, it must have been something good!”

Peridot blushed so hard that she was bluer than Lapis. 

She really had pulled off the perfect Solstice. Now she just needed to do it again next year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading my shameless holiday fluff! Have a happy Solstice, or whatever you celebrate!


End file.
